Y skateboard instructor comes full circle

Thursday

Jul 17, 2014 at 12:01 AMJul 17, 2014 at 7:56 AM

Seanzo Murray grew up in Marblehead, where he skated with Jake Phelps and other youngsters. They honed their skills in the 1970s, “bombing hills,” descending the Crocker Park slope and perfecting tricks in the abandoned Preston Beach Hotel swimming pool.

Seanzo Murray grew up in Marblehead, where he skated with Jake Phelps and other youngsters. They honed their skills in the 1970s, “bombing hills,” descending the Crocker Park slope and perfecting tricks in the abandoned Preston Beach Hotel swimming pool.Eventually, Phelps made his way to San Francisco, where he introduced himself to Thrasher Magazine. The boss gave him a job in the mailroom, but Phelps' knowledge of skating was so immense that he quickly ascended the ladder to editor, a position in which he remains today. An ardent supporter of the skate culture in Marblehead, he has lately shipped goods and, more importantly, inspiration to today's young enthusiasts.Murray took another route. Descended from generations of Marbleheaders, including his mother, Linda Gosling Murray, and her mother, former town historian Marion Gosling, Seanzo Murray got the itch to leave town. After living in a dozen cities, he settled in Hawaii. A year ago, Murray and his son, Keanu, moved back to Marblehead to be with Linda.“We skated and surfed every day in Hawaii,” Seanzo said. “We got to Marblehead and — oh my God!” There was no place to skate.But when the Murrays made their way over to the Lynch-van Otterloo YMCA, they found the prevailing culture to be receptive to skateboarding. In fact, the YMCA was in the midst of building a halfpipe in the back parking lot.The Murrays' talent and experience landed them jobs right away: Seanzo as the lead skate and surf instructor and head of skateboard summer camp, a first for the LVO YMCA. Keanu is a skating specialist and youth counselor. The Murrays' expertise in these sports and their refusal to live in a town with no skateboard park has combined to create what many hope to be just the start of something big.— Bette Keva